March 2016

Sometimes it’s as simple as not allowing yourself to think a certain thought anymore. You’ve thought a thought to death (classic 10 of Swords) and it’s just time to stop going down that road. You know where it’s going to lead, you’ve tested it many, many times, and it’s really no longer sustainable to keep on hurting yourself that way. We’ve all been tested enough in the past couple of years to know what our particular brand of that way is.

Other times, the thing we’re letting go of is way more subtle. It’s a habit we keep defaulting to. It’s the fall-back solution you apply to situations that used to work but really isn’t effective or getting you where you need to go anymore – e.g. strong-arming it, freaking out, depending on someone else, falling into despair, sweeping things under the carpet. You’ve swept so many things under your carpet there’s just no more room underneath it. Or being a people-pleaser, over-giver. Things that started out with good intentions but just got derailed somewhere along the way. No judgement here: these are just by-products of the simple act of living and learning, the very proof of our humanness.

But at a certain point, you keep hitting walls, and it finally dawns on you: now you know better, and you gotta do better.

The great news is that you’re allowed, at any time, to pull back, reassess and course correct.

And with this Full Moon in Libra & partial Lunar Eclipse today, the cosmos is especially supportive of any of your efforts to loosen your grip on things that just aren’t serving you.

Here are some tips on letting go:

Know that you may face resistance. But even just being aware of this already makes it easier. Attachment is natural, but it is also just another habit. Which is why letting go can feel so painful – we’ve gotten used to a certain way of being, we’ve invested emotions and weaved a story around it. But take a moment to consider this: you are the author of your current reality, and you have the power to rewrite it. That feeling of resistance is temporary. And the rewards that come from letting go? They will echo far into the future.

Stop yourself from thinking that thought. I know, sounds so simple right? For a Virgo like me, it takes almost superhuman self-restraint to actively NOT worry, to not obsess. But it is still very possible. So just practice watching your thoughts. Every single time you think of something unproductive, catch yourself. You may not be successful every time, but even just that intention of wanting to rewire yourself gently goes a long way in the long run. Meditation is a good practice for observing your thoughts.

When you let go, you create a vacuum. There’s energy that now has nowhere to go, which is why we sometimes have trouble letting go. We have the urge to fill that vacuum with SOMETHING – and end up dragging that old habit back into our lives. Sometimes it’s wise to let the vacuum be, and see what comes in. But if you need to distract your mind a little bit, redirect that energy. Pick up a new skill. Take action steps towards the thing you want to invite into your life. For example, when I wanted to let go of my habit of worrying, I practiced diverting my attention instead to creating. I saw it as a refocusing of my energy and putting it towardssomething instead of letting the energy build into self-sabotage.

The importance of ritual. In my past life as skeptic-of-all-things, I never imagined I would one day think that burning up pieces of paper or saying affirmations could help. But they do, and people and have been doing them for millennia for a reason. Rituals help you physically reinforce mental concepts, and ground them into reality. Writing intangible things you need to release down onto a piece of paper helps you see it in a physical form, helps your brain register it as a thing, instead of just a thought. Then as you watch it burn in a symbolic act of release, you see it leaving you and your life. Simple but so powerful.

With that, here’s an easy and effective Full Moon Ritual:

Create a space. It doesn’t matter where this is, as long as you’ve set an intention of allowing it to be a sacred space. It is sacred because of your intention. Clean it. Use candles, burn an essential oil, or incense, or smudge it with sage to clear the space energetically.

Get all your things ready. Pen and paper. And a fire-safe container like a smudging pot or a ceramic bowl.

Write down, as specifically as possible, all the things you want to let go of. I am letting go of __ because __.

Call upon Universal support. Express gratitude for this thing that used to serve you. That used to be what you had to count on. Thank it. Bow to it. Honor it. Then call upon your guides – the angels – Love – Universe to witness this. As an example:

♡ I call upon Unconditional Love in the Universe to witness this act of release. Please assist me in removing all that no longer serves me, especially: (read your list). Thank you so much for helping me to let go. May you fill me with self-love, self-knowledge, spiritual light and spiritual power. May I be open to all the goodness that is coming my way. And it is so.♡

Burn that paper in a fire-safe container. Dispose of the ashes in nature if possible.

Wash your hands.

I have so much love and respect for you. It takes courage to let go, it takes courage to recognize that something is no longer working, and it takes courage to move forward.

What an intense year 2016 is already turning out to be, right? If you’re feeling the brain frazzle, this lunar cycle is one where you will have to mindfully turn within and reduce the amount of stimulation you’re receiving, in order to find mental balance and peace.

Love is your birthright

And so is peace. Fear, while a necessary part of survival, is merely programming.

Why are we feeling all this mental pressure? Old stories around fear and survival are coming up big time. In line with the ongoing astrological energies, there is yet another layer of early-life, past life baggage coming up to be addressed and released.

In particular, the old reflexive ways of reacting to fear, in whatever ways it shows up for you – cynicism, taking the safest option, seeking security at all costs – just don’t cut it any more. We are being asked to drop the old programming that tells us: we are not worthy. We are not lovable. We are not safe. We will not be supported.

Like a drumbeat of doom in our heads, we have to rise above the din and ask: who put those voices there? Who, or what, told us this is true? Why do we keep beating the drum, if all it does is keep us scared and small?

In order to move forward on our paths with lighter steps, and a lighter heart, we have to unravel those stories, and breathe into who we are here to become. All of that is yet unwritten, but in this new, beautiful version of you, fear does not run the show.

Birth into joy & celebration

This lunar cycle, I pulled 6 of Cups & 4 of Wands, reinforcing the messages in March’s forecast. If you are not feeling it yet, just hold on: relief is on its way, and an outpouring of joy is coming as Winter blooms into Spring in the Northern hemisphere. This is not a passive thing, like waiting for a bus to arrive. You have to strip down, grab your surfboard, ride the waves till the big one comes along, and hop on. Then it will carry you, far, far beyond where you are standing right now. You are a co-creator in recognizing, and riding, this wave of joy and celebration. You have to allow.

To me, it is also a sign that whatever healing work you are doing – whatever you are seeking to let go of – is divinely blessed. All you have to do is be willing.

That’s it. All you have to do, is say: “I am tired of feeling this way. I am tired of believing my own stories of my own unworthiness. I am tired of being scared. Universe, please take it away from me.”

It’s really an exciting time to be alive – an exciting point in time to be who you are, doing what you do. Especially if you’ve ever felt on the sidelines, the odd one out, strange and estranged at any point of your life – these are the years when things will start making sense for you. Everything that you ever thought was some kind of cosmic joke in your life, will start to become the threads that start pulling together into something beautiful. That will see you saying, ‘Well, of COURSE it had to be that way!” March will be such a month, where, if you allow it – you can start letting the future in, as quickly as you release those self-doubts.

March sees cause for celebration, a completion of a cycle or reaching of a goal – can we hear a hell yes? This will have you feeling free and joyous, bringing with it a much-needed lightness. Whew.

It’s like passing an exam or getting accepted into the school or job you applied for. Take the time to celebrate, and give yourself a breather! Before the next level of work begins – which you’re more than ready for, by the way. It will also be an opportunity to learn to delegate, prioritize, streamline, let go of certain things – in order to move more effectively towards your broader goals.

Consciousness is also greatly expanding at this time – to the point where you can no longer ignore the ‘psychic’ side of your life. That the information people consider to be extra-sensory is really a part of your day-to-day. It’s the Inner Wisdom that I refer to – your personal connection with the spiritual side of life, your personal interpretation of the Divine. Because if we look at our external realities, certainties aren’t a given anymore. Don’t waste your precious energy fighting change and trying to keep everything the way it was, because change is simply a way to call you to look within. March will offer up opportunities to do so, and to learn to put more faith into your own intuition.